“I went to visit a friend living there who designs sets for television commercials. She was working on a project and I ended up on the set every day — pressing linens, moving furniture, whatever was needed. It wasn’t the vacation I had envisioned,” she says with a smile. “But it gave me the opportunity to explore the Norwegian design aesthetic. I fell in love with the simplicity and functionality of their work.”

Earthy, elegant and uncomplicated. These are words that not only best reflect the interior and furnishings at Besseling’s store and design loft, Stony Lake Furniture Co. in Lakefield, they are fitting descriptives for the vibrant and lovely entrepreneur whose background in design, space planning, cabinetry and furnishings have brought her tremendous success — and she only just turned 30.

When you decided to volunteer your time to paint a mural at St. Paul’s, did you have any idea how large of an impact it would have on the school?

“The staff and parents of St. Paul’s wanted to freshen up the library and I’ve painted murals at other schools. I started out painting one wall in the corner of the library. Every day while I was working, the kids would come in and ask me questions about what I was drawing and painting.

I noticed that the tree out my kitchen window was changing colour this morning. I felt that feeling of summer ending and fall beginning.  I wrapped my hands around my pottery coffee mug, snuggled up into my robe and for a fleeting moment felt like a Folgers commercial.  Then it hit.  Panic and dread.  The activity I dread the most as a mother and professional food handler is the daily school lunch.